CATALOGUE 
OF  AN  EXHIBITION  OF 


Etchings  and  Dri'  Points 

RT 

C H ILDE 
HA  S SAM 


FREDERICK  KEPPEL  iA  CO. 
4 EAST  :^gTH  STREET 
NEIV  FORK 


NOFEMBER  30  TO  DECEMBER  /8 
'9^5 


CATALOGUE 
OF  AN  EXHIBITION  OF 

Etchings  and  Drt  Points 

BT 

C H I LDE 
HA  S SA  M 


FREDERICK  KEPPEL  iA  CO 
4 EAST  jgTH  STREET 
NEW  YORK 


NOVEMBER  jo  TO  DECEMBER  i8 

1915 


I 


I 


HEN  an  artist  who  has  achieved 
success  devotes  himself  to  an 
entirely  new  medium  of  expres- 
sion, a keen  expectation  is 
his  audience  as  to  how  he  will 
acquit  himself.  Will  he,  they  ask,  push  out 
to  the  frontiers  of  his  new  medium  and  chisel 
out  one  more  milestone  of  progress;  will  he 
remain  true  to  his  artistic  nature  and  not 
attempt  to  work  out  his  new  technique  with 
the  means  and  methods  of  his  old  ? For, 
after  all,  the  hall  mark  of  the  real  artist  — 
as  the  achievement  of  Rembrandt,  Whistler, 
Diirer,  Michelangelo,  and  the  other  great 
ones  will  testify  — is  a certain  creative  prodi- 
gality that  overflows  the  confines  of  a single 
medium,  a creative  exuberance  coupled  with 
a wholesome  respect  for  the  limitations  of 
the  particular  medium.  It  is  this  distinction 
that  separates  the  artist  from  the  craftsman. 
The  artist  is,  as  it  were,  a mass  of  energy 
finding  a perfect  artistic  expression  in  any 
number  of  outlets,  whereas  the  craftsman  is 
a body  laboriously  gathering  momentum 
along  one  chosen  path.  The  artist  is  irre- 
pressible and  joyous  and  daring,  never  quite 
satisfied  with  his  achievement,  in  a sense 
rather  superior  to  it.  He  possesses  enor- 
mous funds  of  strength  in  reserve,  and  his 
work  always  gives  promise  of  greater  work 

a 


aroused  in 


i 


to  come.  The  craftsman,  on  the  other  hand, 
spends  all  his  strength  in  attaining  mastery 
over  his  one  craft;  he  never  quite  measures 
up  to  his  medium.  Take  from  him  his  one 
technique  and  he  is  shorn  of  his  power. 

It  is  with  some  such  adventurous  thrill 
and  speculation  that  one  examines  the  new 
etchings  of  Childe  Hassam.  But  one  soon 
discovers  that  it  is  the  artist  and  not  the 
craftsman  who  made  them.  Here,  one  feels, 
is  a distinct  individuality  translated  into 
etching.  Childe  Hassam  may  be  interested 
in  working  out  the  same  general  problems 
that  he  does  in  painting,  but  he  approaches 
them  from  a different  angle,  along  a different 
path,  giving  us  thereby  much  that  is  new 
and  beautiful  to  see.  Such  plates  as  Cos  Cob 
Docks  or  The  Bird  Book  or  The  White 
Kimono  are  both  linear  in  treatment  and 
delightfully  fresh  and  original.  With  his 
knowledge  and  resources  he  may  well  be 
expected  to  shape  out  a genuine  advance  in 
the  technique  of  his  medium. 

And  what  charm  there  is  in  the  subjects 
themselves.  All  the  qualities  which  render 
his  paintings  so  delightful  are  reflected  in 
his  etchings  — sensitiveness  to  the  beauty  of 
still  life,  to  grace  of  gesture,  to  motives  ot 
decoration  and  arrangement,  to  vibrancy 
of  atmosphere,  to  brilliance  of  sunlight  and 
its  riotous  interplay  with  shadow.  It  one 
wishes  the  crispness  and  the  sparkle  of 
sunshine  there  is  Toby's  or  Cos  Cob;  if  one 
wishes  the  reticence  and  the  magic  atmos- 
phere of  beautiful  interiors  there  is  The 
White  Mantel  or  'The  Writing  Desk.  For 
spontaneity  and  directness  could  anything 


4 


be  more  delightful  than  Kitty  Resting  or 
Rainy  Day^  St.  Marks.  And  what  poetic 
charm  there  is  in  the  conception  of  "The 
Dutch  Door^  the  girl  standing  at  the  door 
and  drinking  in  with  her  fresh  young  nature 
the  radiant  summer  that  is  jubilantly  singing 
and  caroling  out  of  doors. 

To  him  who  is  interested  in  discovering 
artistic  kinships  and  tracing  family  trees 
(futile  task  generally),  one  would  say  that 
Childe  Hassam  and  Whistler  have  much  in 
common.  There  is  the  same  untiring  pur- 
suit of  the  beauty  of  the  world,  the  same 
preference  for  the  decorative  over  the  human 
element  in  picture-craft,  the  same  broad 
culture,  and  the  same  genius  of  creative 
taste.  Especially  are  they  united  in  the 
worship  of  a common  goddess.  For  Childe 
H assam  also  consecrates  his  choicest  gifts 
to  that  “goddess  of  dainty  thought  — 
reticent  of  habit,  abjuring  all  obtrusiveness, 
purposing  in  no  way  to  better  others,  . . . 
seeking  and  finding  the  beautiful  in  all  con- 
ditions and  in  all  times.” 

CARL  ZJGROSSER 


‘ <- . 't-^'r  '•i*.i  T-f.  V 'vSiiEx'  '?,■■*■?•’  ■ :"'  :* 


HILDE  HASSAM  is,  in  his 
rare  moods,  an  impressionist 
of  remarkable  ability  — which 
appeals  strongly  to  all  good  painters.  I 
have  always  felt  that  so  direct  an  observer 
would  add  a new  note  in  etching,  and  I have, 
with  others  in  the  past  several  years,  tried  to 
awaken  his  interest  in  the  needle.  He  now 
has  produced  in  this  line  much  that  needs 
no  words  to  recommend,  and  I heartily  wish 
him  the  success  that  is  his  due. 


J.  ALDRN  WEIR 


C A T A L O G U 


1 Garden  of  the  Luxembourg. 

Proof  printed  on  old  English  plate  paper. 

2 Garden  of  the  Luxembourg. 

Proof  printed  on  Whatman  paper. 

3 Porte  St.  Martin. 

4 Lannion. 

3 St.  Sepulchre,  Strand. 

0 Old  Warehouses,  Portsmouth. 

7 The  Athenaeum,  Portsmouth. 

(S  The  Old  Custom  House,  Portsmouth. 

9  The  Chimneys,  Portsmouth. 

10  The  Ox  Cart. 

11  West  Point. 

12  Street  in  Newburgh. 

13  Old  Dutch  Church,  Fishkill  Village. 

11  Long  Beach. 

15  Sunset,  Constable’s  Hook. 

10  Madison  Square. 

17  Rainy  Day,  St.  Marks. 

18  The  Dance. 

First  proof  of  the  first  state. 

19  The  Dance. 

Likewise  of  the  first  state,  but  printed  on 
yellowish  woven  paper. 

20  The  Dance. 

Second  state,  with  several  of  the  figures 
removed. 


0 


21  The  Laurel  Dance. 

Proof  printed  on  old  handmade  American  paper. 

22  The  Laurel  Dance. 

Proof  printed  on  old  English  note  paper. 

23  The  Laurel  Wreath. 

21  The  Lilies. 

23  Kitty  Resting. 

20  Moonrise  at  Sunset. 

27  The  Little  Pool,  Appledore. 

28  June. 

29  Nude. 

30  The  Etcher. 

31  Reading  in  Bed. 

The  second  proof  printed  from  the  plate. 

32  Reading  in  Bed. 

Proof  richly  printed  on  yellowish  Japan  paper. 

33  The  Georgian  Chair. 

31  The  Little  Piano. 

First  proof  printed. 

33  The  Little  Piano. 

Later  state  with  additional  work  in  various 
parts  of  the  plate. 

30  A Portrait. 

37  At  the  Opera. 

38  Contre-Jour. 

39  The  Illustrator. 

40  Cos  Cob. 

Proof  printed  on  japan  paper. 

11  Cos  Cob. 

Proof  printed  on  bluish  linen  paper. 

10 


42  The  Old  Toll  Bridge. 

43  The  Dock,  Low  Tide. 

44  The  Barges,  Cos  Cob. 

45  Connecticut  Barns. 

40  The  Old  House. 

47  An  Old  House,  Connecticut. 

48  Moonlight — The  Old  House. 

49  Long  Ridge. 

50  Elms  in  May. 

51  The  Old  Cherry  Tree. 

52  Low  Tide,  Cos  Cob  Bridge. 

5.‘>  The  Lucinda  of  New  York. 

54  Cos  Cob  Dock. 

55  Old  Lace. 

Proof  printed  on  old  handmade  American  paper. 

56  Old  Lace. 

Proof  printed  with  a slight  tone  on  old  English 
note  paper. 

57  Toby’s,  Cos  Cob. 

58  The  Old  House,  Cos  Cob. 

59  The  Writing  Desk. 

Proof  printed  on  French  line  paper. 

00  The  Writing  Desk. 

Proof  printed  with  more  tone  on  yellowish 
Japan  paper. 

01  The  Breakfast  Room. 

02  Painting  Fans. 

03  The  Steps. 

Proof  printed  on  white  Japan  paper. 


11 


64 


The  Steps. 

Proof  printed  on  old  English  plate  paper. 

65  The  Colonial  Table. 

Proof  printed  on  Spanish  woven  paper. 

66  The  Colonial  Table. 

Proof  printed  on  yellowish  Japan  paper. 

67  The  White  Mantel. 

Proof  printed  on  French  M.B.M.  paper. 

68  The  White  Mantel. 

Proof  printed  on  bluish  Holland  paper. 

69  The  White  Kimono. 

Proof  printed  on  French  M.B.M.  paper. 

70  The  White  Kimono. 

Proof  printed  on  yellowish  Japan  paper. 

71  The  Dutch  Door. 

First  proof  of  final  state. 

72  The  Dutch  Door. 

Proof  printed  on  Spanish  woven  paper. 

73  The  Dutch  Door. 

Proof  printed  on  Whatman  paper  with  blacker 
ink. 

74  The  Bird  Book. 

First  state.  Unique  proof. 

75  The  Bird  Book. 

Second  state  with  flowers  in  place  of  the  girl. 


12 


f / 


IRVING  PRESS 
NEW  YORK 


